Marko has served as motorsport advisor to the Red Bull team since their𒉰 inception in 2005 and has built up a close-kni🧸t relationship with team principal Horner. 

Horner acknowledꦜged Marko’s importance in selecting some of the best young talents to drive for Red Bull, but he also noted the 80-year-old Austrian’s tendency to speak his mind. 

Marko’s brutally honest remarks have often landed him in hot water over the years, and Horner admitted the media “only have to prod him” to 𝓡“get a headline”. 

“I’ve known him for a long time,” Horner told ESPN. “When I 𒁏first met him in 1996, I needed to buy a trailer for the Formula 3000 and Formula 2 team that I had.

“Helmut, first of all, he’s a passionate rac🧜er. He was a good driver himself until his accident and he’s just very direct.

“With junior drivers, he’s picked some great ones. He’s a tough operator with the junior drivers but if they can’t survive Helmut, they’ll never 💛survive Form🦄ula 1.

“He’s 80 years young, he’s still watching every Formula 3 session and following the young talent religiously. I’ve always had a very 🅺straightforward a📖nd good relationship with him.”

Horner added: “He’s a communication manager’s nightmare. When he goes rogue, then you guys [the media] only have to prod him and you’ll g🦄et a headline.

“But he just calls it as he sees it🍎. He will tell youꦺ exactly what he thinks which in many respects is very similar to how Niki Lauda was.

“That sa🍷me generation, same makeup in many ways. But there’s a great respect for Helmut and what he’s done and contributed over the years and at 80 years of age, he’s still looking for purple🍌 sectors.”